I’m still running at seven months pregnant. But it’s transformed how I think about exercise | Nell Frizzell

All too often, staying fit is about vanity and status. The slower and wheezier I become, the more I realise it's also about survival

Have you recently seen a sweating woman with a watermelon stuffed up her fleece, wheezing her way behind a bush mere metres from a towpath to have a pee? If you have, please say hello next time - for that woman, I suspect, is me.

At seven months pregnant, I am still running three times a week. By running", I mean hurling my lumpen body through various woods, fields and city parks at a speed slower than walking, while wearing a pair of gently disintegrating trainers. Do I have to stop every 10 minutes to empty my bladder? You bet I do. Am I running half my usual distance in twice the usual time? Yes, ma'am.